Red Sox win World Series 4-0

Well, that was fairly lopsided. The Red Sox pretty much beat up the supposedly well-reseted Rockies. While both teams were riding winning streaks into the series I guess the Rockies momentum got killed by the down time and the Red Sox had too much talent to overcome.

Hideki Okajima gave up another homer, this time in the 8th inning which helped close the gap but it wasn't enough. A bit of an up and down post-season for Okajima as everyone was singing his praises through the ALCS and after Game 2 but he gave up two homers in his last two appearances.

Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game and would have been slated to start Game 7. After his shaky Game 3 start in the ALCS he caught a lot of criticism but one wonders if his wins in Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 3 of the WS (which some people were saying was one of his best starts of the year) are enough for the Red Sox Nation to lay off on him for a bit (not that they care at this point). Oh, and 103 million dollars. He also was the victim of a trick on national TV as someone stuck a bubble gum bubble on the top of his hat which he was unaware of for a couple of minutes.

Kazuo Matsui was pulled towards the end of the game. I wasn't really paying attention as to why. But he ended with a .294 average and went 5-17. While he wasn't lighting it up he was one of the lone fairly bright spots for the Rockies. NHK also showed lots of shots of him looking down-trodden while sitting on the bench.

Congrats to the Red Sox. I don't mind the Celtics winning it all because I like Kevin Garnett but I really really hope the Patriots don't win the Super Bowl. In fact, I hope the Pats go through the regular season undefeated and then lose after the first-round bye. That would be fun. Not for them of course. Or Bill Simmons. But that's kind of the point.

There's always next year Mets fans!

Oh jeez. NHK is airing a highlight package and they have lots of happy shots of Matsuzaka and Okajima (to be fair they show Okajima giving up the homers) but they show pretty much every Matsui strike-out and the last shot of him is when he was sitting on the bench. Poor guy.

Matsuzaka goes 5, Red Sox one win away from another title

Well, the Red Sox took an early 6-0 lead, held on at 6-5 and finally took Game Three 10-5 and now the brooms are looming.
Daisuke Matsuzaka's stats (from Yahoo! sports):
5.1 innings pitched, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 ER. He also went 1-3 with 2 RBI.
Not a bad outing for Boston's 103 million dollar man. He did walk two batters in a row which led to Sox Manager Terry Francona pulling him in the bottom of the 5th and those two walks turned into two runs when Javier Lopez was unable to get anyone out. A rare mistake by Francona but in the end the Red Sox pulled it out and Matsuzaka is now the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game. This was also probably his last start of this season as it looks quite unlikely that the series will go seven games.
Hideki Okajima also pitched in today's game and gave up a homer in the 7th (only one run was earned though). Not quite the lights-out form he showed in Game Two.
Also, the mini-rally in the 7th was sparked by Kazuo Matsui's lead-off bunt (he would go on to score on Holliday's homer). This was the best game of the series for Matsui as he went 3-5.

NHK General started broadcasting the game from around the middle of the 1st inning and then switched to regular programming somewhere around the 6th inning. Huh? Luckily, I have BS and was able to watch the rest of the game but still...that was really weird. You'd think NHK would be all over an event like this (they're interviewing him right now about being the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game).

Game 4 will be in Colorado tomorrow. The NHK BS-1 broadcast will start 9:15 AM.

Today's box score from Yahoo! Sports.

Even more eyes on Daisuke

Well, Daisuke came through (sort of) in Game 7. He went five and got the win but wasn't exactly impressive. Now the Red Sox are up 2-0 on the Rockies who have obviously come back down to earth after having to wait eight days between games. Daisuke will be back on the mound again for Game Three in Colorado. Unlike the Game Three of the ALCS there will be a bit less pressure on Daisuke to produce; the Sox are on the road and have a two game cushion and only need to take one on the road to get the series back to Boston for the finale (not that you necessarily want that to happen if you are a Sox fan). However, this is the World Series. In Game Two Hideki Okajima became the first Japan-born player to pitch in the World Series. Matsuzaka will be the first Japan-born pitcher to start in the World Series in Game Three. So there will be pressure. Also, the coverage of this game in Japan should be pretty extensive since the game will be played on a Sunday morning (NHK BS-1 from 9:10 AM -- watch the pitchers warm up! It's exciting! Or not. NHK General from 10:00 -- skip the warm-up and the US National anthem!). And don't forget the $103 million. Never forget the $103 million.

There are lots and lots of stories about Game Three but there is one in particular I'd like to share by Jeff Passan about Hideki Okajima: "He needs to touch the parrot," Red Sox reliever Kyle Snyder said. "Who knows what happens if he doesn't?"

Enjoy the..huh? What's that? Is someone waving in the back there? Looks like he's wearing a Rockies uniform. Hey, it's Kaz Matsui!

Actually, I'm just being mean. NHK has tried to make up for lost time (i.e. not airing any of the Rockies play-off games on TV) by replaying every Kaz at-bat several times. Unfortunately, Kaz is 1-8 so far in the World Series with three Ks (one of them to Okajima) and you can only look at multiple angles of strike-outs so many times. I'm sure that Kaz will get more airtime as the Japanese announcers try to milk the fact that he and D-Mat were teammates on the Seibu Lions.

Anyway, enjoy the game!